Five families tortured for allegedly practising black magic

From a Correspondent

Joysagar, June 29: Despite so many awareness programmes conducted in various parts of Sivasagar district, incidents of witch-hunting are frequently reported in rural areas of the district. On Wednesday, at Porchali village of Sepon, near Sepon Tea Estate under Charaidew district, about five labour class families were reportedly tortured by local villagers for a long time as the villagers suspected these families to practice witchcraft and black magic and accused them of being responsible for the frequent fever and other diseases suffered by the villagers.

The victim families earn their livelihood by working in the nearby tea garden and in households of nearby villagers. These families were frequently tortured by the villagers but on Wednesday, the villagers tried to burn them as well as their houses.

Some of the victims were identified as Gayara Zaa, Bauli Purti, Tush Munda, Markes Munda, Sabi, Martin, Sikhala Orang, Kripa and Deepali Ray. They were rescued by a conscious group of local people on Wednesday night and these conscious people promptly informed the Sepon PS as well as Charaidew district authorities.